‘Supplements are key’: Tmall Global to bring 1,000 new brands into China in next 12 months

11-May-2020 - Last updated on 11-May-2020 at 05:43 GMT

Tmall Global says it wants to bring 1,000 new brands into China in the next 12 months. ©Getty Images

Tmall Global, the e-commerce platform under Alibaba Group, plans to bring 1,000 new international brands into China over the next 12 months, with food supplements as one of the key categories.

This is part of the company’s brand-incubation program.

One of the most recent food supplement brands launched on the platform was the adult nutrition range manufactured by South Korea’s dairy leader Maeil Dairies, the firm told NutraIngredients-Asia.

The supplement brand, known as Selex, is a protein powder beverage designed for prevention of muscle loss in the elderly.

The launch builds on the firm’s existing infant nutrition offerings, said Tmall Global.

“We have seen more and more brands choose Tmall Global as their favoured platform to tap into the China market,” said Alvin Liu, president of Tmall Export and Import.

“These brands quickly see the importance of the digital analytics we provide to better understand the Chinese consumers’ preferences and develop relevant strategies for their online business – and even to bolster their offline business,” Liu said.

The firm claimed that over 80% of the international brands entered the China market for the first time through its service. It now works with over 25,000 international brands from 92 countries.

Food supplements continue to be in high demand and was the best-selling category for imported goods brought by consumers during last year’s Double 11 shopping festival, the firm said.

Based on recent data, the best-performing brands according to gross merchandise value (GMV) are Swisse, BY-HEALTH, bird’s nest maker Yan Zhi Wu, and herbal soup Xiao Xian Dun.

In terms of improts, Chinese consumers tend to buy supplement brands from Australia, the US, Japan, South Korea, and Germany.

Due to the current COVID-19 outbreak, the Tmall believes that consumption habits will be in a state of constant flux as the outbreak eases and as people return to work.

Adopting the lingua franca

Tmall has also announced it will introduce an English-language customer-service and self-service registration system, to speed up the joining process for international brands.

The system will also allow new storefronts to open within 30 days of registration.

In fact, the firm has set the goal of helping each new brand to achieve the GMV of RMB$1bn within their first 90 days of joining the incubation program.

Other marketing activities include allowing top-performing brands in the incubation program to have access to livestreaming campaigns set up specifically for them on the Taobao Live channel.